Buddhist Perspective on Morality for Better Education Atmosphere

Abstract

Education is the continuation of values, knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and behaviour as a process of getting rid of ignorance. It does not only deal with the intellectual and technology matters. It should cover moral, intellectual and spiritual goals. Buddhism has the basic concept of morality for lay people called Pancasila (five precepts), they are: refraining from destroying living creatures, refraining from taking that which is not given, refraining from sexual misconduct, refraining from incorrect speech, and refraining from intoxicating drinks and drugs which lead to carelessness. Those precepts are the basics for leading to Buddhist education goal factors should be conducted. First, implementing the precepts and others rule to build the students morality. Second, developing the intellectuality as a tool to preserve the tradition. The last, education is assisting the students to develop their spiritualties. This system leads the students to have two mental qualities Hiri and Otappa as the underlying safeguards of morality. Hiri is an innate sense of shame over moral transgression; ottappa is moral dread, fear of the results of wrongdoing. The students who have got those two qualities would be ready to face the postmodern era which put forward the culture and the existence of ethics and also industrial 4.0 era where the internet of things is alive. The morality should be strengthened, besides intellectual and technology skill, to prevent from the hoax, plagiarism, hate speech etc. finally; education can be understood as a means not a goal to mature students who must live in a complex world.